I own no UTEK but thouth I'd pass this along....
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Chip-gear quality ratings: making the best of a bad year
A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc.
Story posted 5:30 p.m. EST/2:30 p.m., PST, 6/11/99
SAN JOSE -- VLSI Research Inc. here today released its annual survey of chip-equipment suppliers' quality ratings with customers. Due to the downturn in the semiconductor industry, and the resulting 28% decline in chip-gear sales, many suppliers had to institute hiring freezes or layoffs, which made it difficult to meet customer demands, the research company said.
"In the face of great adversity, the '10 Best' suppliers have maintained their strong commitment to customer satisfaction," said Risto Puhakka, vice president of operations at VLSI Research. "Their valiant efforts are reflected in an increase in the overall rating."
VLSI assembled responses from 37,000 sent to semiconductor manufacturers around the world. Users were asked to rate their equipment suppliers in eight areas: product performance, uptime, software, quality of results, process support, technical leadership, after-sale support, and the vendor's overall commitment to meet its' customers' needs.
Companies are rated in five areas: test and material-handling equipment, process diagnostic equipment, assembly and specialty equipment, and two categories of wafer processing equipment -- large suppliers and small suppliers.
Among the large wafer processing suppliers (sales over $300 million), Varian Semiconductor Equipment was the No. 1 supplier for the third year in a row. Its rating of 8.92 out of a possible 10 is the highest score ever for the wafer processing segment, VLSI said.
Following Varian in the rankings were: ASM Lithography; Eaton's Semiconductor Equipment Operations; Nikon; Novellus; Kokusai Electric; Applied Materials; Canon; Tokyo Electron; and Lam Research.
The small wafer processing companies (sales of less than $300 million) experience more intense competition, VLSI said, resulting in a relatively low average rating of 7.36. Ultratech Stepper was No.1 with 7.92
Rounding out the category, in order, were: Aixtron; Watkins-Johnson Semiconductor Equipment Group; Tegal; Steag; Karl Suss; Genus; Ulvac Japan; FSI International; and CFM Technologies.
Test and wafer-handling is the only category in which scores for customer service surpass equipment-performance ratings, VLSI said. These suppliers have achieved their best ratings in quality-of-results and overall commitment.
Topping the list is Karl Suss, with 8.89. The others are Integrated Measurement Systems (IMS); Tokyo Seimitsu; TMT; Electroglas; Tokyo Electron; SZ Testsystems; Advantest; Schlumberger ATE; and Teradyne.
Hewlett-Packard led the process diagnostic segment for the third straight year, with 7.99. This is the only segment where software is not the lowest rated category. After-sale support ranks lowest here, according to VLSI. In fact, only seven companies qualified for the rankings.
Following HP were: Hitachi; JEOL; Rudolph Technologies; Keithley Instruments; KLA-Tencor; and Therma-Wave.
European suppliers continue to have a strong foothold in assembly and specialty equipment. Six of the top 10 are predominantly bonding-equipment suppliers. This category has the highest overall average rating, and category leader Alphasem had 9.17.
Rounding out the category were: Orthodyne Electronics; Universal Instruments; ICOS Vision Systems; Disco; ESEC; Dalacon; Shinkawa; Ismeca; and Kulicke & Soffa Industries.
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